Despite a sluggish domestic economy, advertising spending by South Korean companies increased 1.5 percent last year on the back of rapidly growing mobile ads, industry data showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by Cheil Worldwide, South Korea's largest ad agency, local companies spent a total of 10.88 trillion won ($9.42 billion) on advertisements last year.  Advertisement at the Lotte Duty-free Shop (Yonhap)Advertisements in cable TV networks increased 5 percent on-year to 1.87 trillion

The student council president of South Korea's top university has resigned after insulting a female student over her looks, the student body said Tuesday.Lee Tak-kyu of Seoul National University stepped down Sunday, saying he is sorry for "hurting many fellow students with my careless and inappropriate words and actions," the council said on its Facebook page. This file photo shows the flag of Seoul National University. (Yonhap)Lee recently came under fire for a series of derogatory remarks towa

The office of Seoul's Gangnam district said Tuesday it has distributed video clips with travel tips for foreign tourists in the area.The clips, which cover eight different themes, introduce information such as South Korea's emergency numbers and how to use the subway and taxis, Gangnam Ward Office said.This photo provided by Gangnam Ward Office on March 7, 2017, shows a captured image of a video clip "Tips for foreigners to travel Gangnam safely," distributed by the district office on Youtube an

The defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan vowed Tuesday to ensure North Korea "pays the price" for its provocations, one day after it test-fired four ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, the defense ministry said.South Korea's Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his counterpart Tomomi Inada held phone talks to discuss North Korea's latest missile launch, the ministry said. South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo talks to his counterpart Tomomi Inada. (Yonhap)They shared the view that North K

The United States is working to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to defend better against missile threats from North Korea, the White House said Monday.White House press secretary Sean Spicer made the remark during a press gaggle with reporters, a day after the North fired four ballistic missiles in its second such launches since President Donald Trump took office. White House press secretary Sean Spicer (Yonhap)"The Trump administration is taking steps to enhance our ability to defend ag

The South Korean government said Tuesday it will provide an emergency relief fund to small and medium-sized firms in the country exposed to financial risks from a series of retaliatory actions by China in protest of Seoul's installment of a high-tech US missile system.The Ministry of Trade, Indtry and Energy will offer a loan of up to 1 billion won ($866,000) for as long as five years to smaller companies with biness ties in China that may face financial problems due to Beijing's intensifying tr

North Korea's latest missile launches could have involved more missiles than the four known, but the communist nation did not attempt to carry out a threatened test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Pentagon said Monday."There were four that landed. There may be a higher number of launches that we're not commenting on. But four landed and splashed" in the East Sea, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters without elaborating, according to Reuters.(Yonhap)The remark suggests

The US State Department on Monday issued a "Worldwide Caution" advising Americans to take due caution when traveling abroad, singling out North Korea as a destination to avoid due to "the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention.""US citizens are urged to avoid all travel to North Korea/the Democratic People's Republic of Korea due to the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea's system of law enforcement," the department said in the advisory.(Yonhap)The North was

A US senator has urged President Donald Trump to get tough with North Korea and "stop the madman in Pyongyang" after the communist nation fired a barrage of ballistic missiles in violation of UN sanctions.The North fired four missiles Monday morning local time in the second such launches after the Feb. 12 test-firing of a newly developed intermediate-range ballistic missile. The missiles flew about 1,000 km before crashing into Japan's exclusive economic zone waters.The launches were seen as a s

South Korea, the United States and Japan requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss North Korea's latest missile launches, officials said Monday.The council is likely to hold a meeting on Wednesday after British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft returns from a trip, officials said.After the meeting, the council is expected to adopt a press statement condemning the launches just as it did after the North test-fired a newly developed intermediate-range ballistic missile last mon

The South Korean government and the ruling party agreed on the need to push for more "effective" sanctions to counter North Korea's persistent provocations Tuesday, a day after Pyongyang fired off four ballistic missiles into the East Sea.The government and the Liberty Korea Party also agreed to closely communicate with Washington through the two-plus-two consultative institution, a key dialogue channel involving top defense and diplomatic officials, the party's policy chief Lee Hyun-jae told re

North Korea said Tuesday it launched four ballistic missiles in an exercise targeting US military bases in Japan, vowing to bolster its missile capabilities in terms of quantity and quality.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the drill conducted by Hwasong artillery units of its Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army "tasked to strike the bases of the US imperialist aggression forces in Japan," the Korean Central News Agency said.The report did not disclose when the drill was carried

The leaders of South Korea and the United States agreed Tuesday on strengthening the allies' combined defense posture to counter North Korea's persistent provocations, a day after it fired four ballistic missiles towards the East Sea, Seoul officials said.During their 20-minute telephone talks, South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and US President Donald Trump shared the need to sternly deal with the North's latest launch. They cast it as "not only a breach of UN Secur

The issuance of asset-backed securities in South Korea tumbled nearly 27 percent in 2016 from a year earlier as the local property market remained sluggish, data showed Tuesday.The amount of ABS issues totaled 60.7 trillion won ($52.6 billion) last year, down 26.8 percent from the previo year, according to data by the Korea Capital Market Institute. (Yonhap)ABS are derived from underlying assets, such as auto loans, home loans, credit card receivables and student loans.The plunge came as the sta

(Yonhap)First came TV censorships of Korean stars. Then a ban on concerts, followed by an implicit prohibition of retail goods from South Korea. Now, K-pop is also bracing for a possible export ban to China, the biggest single-nation market in the world, as Beijing continues its political hissy fit towards Seoul's decision to deploy a high-tech U.S. anti-missile battery on its soil.Since October, Beijing has denied Korean entertainers permission to perform or appear on Chinese television. More r

President Park Geun-hye's lawyers and allies reacted angrily Monday to the independent prosecution's final report on its 70-day investigation which reaffirmed her as a suspect in multiple corruption cases. Independent Counsel Park Young-soo's team announced the results of its probe into the massive presidential scandal, claiming Park is a suspected accomplice to her friend Choi Soon-sil in taking bribes from Samsung Group's de facto leader Lee Jae-yong. The investigators also linked her to an al

Police said Monday they have launched an internal investigation into recent violent and possibly illegal activities by a group of diehard supporters of impeached President Park Geun-hye.The investigation is aimed at determining whether the group of pro-Park activists violated the law by wielding baseball bats outside the house of Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, who last week concluded a probe into the president's alleged corruption, Kim Jung-hoon, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agenc

South Korea will begin a global campaign this week to promote the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games worldwide with the events a mere 11 months away in the eastern South Korean town of PyeongChang, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it will soon set up a comprehensive and organized plan for international promotion of the PyeongChang Olympics in cooperation with its subsidiary agency -- the Korean Culture and Information Service -- and Korean cultura

After ending a bilateral visa-waiver deal and expelling the top envoy, Malaysia hinted it would take additional steps against North Korea in an escalating spat over the death of leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, a media report said Monday. On Saturday, Malaysia gave 48 hours to North Korean Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Kang Chol to leave the country. Earlier last week Malaysia canceled a visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang in response to the North's criticism that Malaysia colluded with South Ko

Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Monday that South Korea is capable of defending itself from any missiles launched by North Korea, after Pyongyang fired four projectiles earlier in the day.During his meeting with lawmakers, Han said North Korean missiles targeting the (southern part of) Korean Peninsula can be blocked with the South's defense systems under development, such as long-range surface-to-air missiles, mid-range surface-to-air missiles, or the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batte